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UNICEF South Asia Regional Situation Report, January to March 2022

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UNICEF
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Highlights

• A new wave of COVID-19 infection with the omicron variant hit the region in the early January. As of March 31, a cumulative total of 48,525,186 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 47,809,222 cases recovered, and 617,063 deaths were reported in the region of South Asia. Since midJanuary 2021, over 441 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to the region through COVAX Facility.

• The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains dire with severe food insecurity caused by drought, and with critical public services that children and families rely on at risk of collapse.

• Sri Lanka is facing an acute economic and energy crisis sparked by a shortage of hard currency, and this is severely affecting the health sector with several major hospitals having suspended routine surgeries since March 2022 due to dangerously low lifesaving medicine and equipment stocks.

• In the region of South Asia, UNICEF funding needs for its humanitarian action in 2022 are a total of US$2.45 billion, of which 26 per cent has been thus far funded.

Regional Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

As of March 31, a cumulative total of 48,525,186 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 47,809,222 cases recovered, and 617,063 deaths were reported in the region of South Asia1 . The upward trend of confirmed cases has been observed since the early January 2022, which soon constituted a new wave with the omicron variant in the region. The increase in the number of cases was much sharper than in previous waves with other variants; however, most countries in the region has passed its peak by the mid-February, with an only exception of Bhutan, which continued demonstrating a sharp upward trend until the end of March.

Children across Afghanistan are increasingly vulnerable to disease and illness due to the combination of rising malnutrition, drought, displacement, and lack of access to safe water, sanitation and health services. The measles outbreak remains a significant concern with 62,185 cases of measles and 330 deaths2 reported across the country since January 2021. Across the country, 22.8 million people – half of the population – are projected to be acutely food insecure in 2022 (IPC 3 and 4). The nutrition situation in the country remains alarming with an estimated that 3.2 million children in Afghanistan expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2022, and a million severely malnourished children at risk of death, if immediate action is not taken.

Sri Lanka is facing an acute economic and energy crisis sparked by a shortage of hard currency, and this is severely affecting the health sector with several major hospitals having suspended routine surgeries since March 2022 due to dangerously low lifesaving medicine and equipment stocks. A sudden rise in the price of key commodities and fuel shortages have forced tens of thousands of people to queue for hours outside petrol and gas filling stations since March 2022. People also faced daily power cuts of up to 12– 13 hours in March. Sri Lanka’s food costs were inflated by 25.7 percent and retail costs by 15.1 percent in February 2022, among the highest in Asia as well as the highest in Sri Lanka since 2008. Following the unpegging of the rupee from the US dollar, inflation rose to 30 percent for food in March. Commodities such as food and fuel are either unavailable or exorbitantly priced, and many staples are beyond the reach of many ordinary Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka’s children are at the heart of this crisis, and it is likely that all six million of them will be affected. As families struggle to find enough food, public transportation has been cut and children are unable to go to school, cutting off their access to school meals. Due to a shortage of paper for printing, the Ministry of Education has postponed school examinations. These barriers to accessing schools, learning and the other services they provide is making children increasingly vulnerable to being pushed into child labour and other risks to child protection.